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I have a constant rat population now due to a neighbours feeding birds/squirrels all summer. An old shed used to house lawnmowers is now used to safely house rat bait boxes, about 12 over 1 year. (=24 dead rats) Baiting them there keeps them out of my loosely closed in car port which is where they always try to cosy up for the inclement weather. Yucky filthy beasts! Cute faces though and I hate to kill anything but refuse to be overrun by them and their filth. If I had such a pile I would do as they now do when demolishing old derelict houses. Leave the situation as is and bait the heck out of it before the rats have a chance to spread then demolish.

However, they are a great food source for some. Apparently preferred over squirrel! Maybe they know something we don't.

The first night in the oilfields I spent the night on a couch at one of my brothers really trashy frends house.
I stayed up all night running huge rats off my chest trying to suck up to my warmth.
At first I thought they were cats.
From then on I slept in my car till I found a place to stay.
Worth

This story reminded me of the garter snake's nest I discovered under a tarp covering a mound of compost in my driveway. I've since used the compost to refill my raised beds, so it won't happen again, but it was pretty funny. It was less funny when a juvenile snake got in the house and my cats took turns playing "whack-a-mole" with it. (I carried it back outside and reunited it with its family.) I (or the cats) would have killed a rat on sight. (((Shudder)))

I have no doubt that a cat or a dog, if they were present, would have leaped into the fray and maybe dispatched at least one of the fleeing rats.
Personally I have neither the agility nor the teeth that are necessary for such quick witted killings.

I was surprised to read that rats have such a short lifespan. Most juveniles don't live a year. Even those that make it to full grown only have a life expectancy of 18 months. Yes I know they make up for it by breeding at breakneck speed. But they certainly need a safe place to do that.
Forecast is for freezing temperatures tonight (finally!). I hope the timing of their exodus from the pile is fatal.